A Carriage Driving Event (Photos)

Marathon day at the Sargents' CDE in Lodi

An obstacle

Shelly, Debbie, and the fabulous Alejandro
We were rooting form them.

Return trip: Settling in (Lots of photos)

We made it to Cali! There were a couple of days that I wasn't sure that was going to be possible... but we made it, safe and sound, to be greeted warmly by our friends.

I'm so grateful to be here. The apartment we're living in is spacious and quiet (most of the time) and largely unpacked now. We have art on the walls and I have an office! It's in the guest room, of course, but it's my own space from which to work and I like it so far.

Living Room

But I'm most happy to be in Davis because of the people. CA people are my kind of people... and we have some good friends here. Who could ask for more?

Our hammock lives at Leslie's now (down the street from
us). She's loving it.

We had a night of Melon Madness where we tasted as many
heirloom melon varieties as we could find.

There are plenty of great places to walk the pup. He's so
happy!

I took photos for the Brian Sabo clinic that Debbie and Leslie rode in the week after we got back. Here are a few of my shots.

Debbie on Quincy 

Winston's nose

Leslie and Winston

Michelle and Loki warming up for their lesson

Winston

Debbie on Grace. The only picture I caught of her with a
smile on her face.

Next post will hopefully have some pictures of a Carriage Driving Event in it. Right now I'm going to have breakfast and head to an open meditation session at the Davis Meditation Center. Time to clear my mind and get centered.

Return trip to Cali: St. Louis

Ok... so I haven't posted every day since we started driving. That is probably due to the fact that I have been having a literal nervous breakdown. I'm mostly better now... but it was at the cost of visiting my family in Chattanooga "on the way." Yeah, it wasn't on the way, but it would have been nice to see them. Instead, I spent a day in bed in a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio. So not fun.

But... I woke up this morning and felt better, so we jumped at the chance and hit the road. I managed today with no random bursts of tears or panic attacks.

The animals have been great, completely chill (as much as cats can be chill in a car). Tag is so good... surviving and doing his best to share space with Jack and Gill. Bangs spends all his time in the back of the car, even though he started in the front. It's rough, but we're managing.

Tomorrow we're headed to Omaha, and I will hopefully have dinner with someone I haven't seen in ... is it possible it's been 15 years? Crazy.

Cross-country: Reblogged (Chicago to Cleveland)

We're moving back to CA on Saturday. Yay!!! So in preparation for that event, I'm reposting the journey from CA to CT that took place 3+ years ago. Here's hoping that this trip goes a little more smoothly. We certainly learned a few tricks in the process! Next posts will be from the road.

May 31, 2010

We're outside Cleveland tonight... everyone is snuggled up on the bed together. I think they're pretty tired. I know I am. Tomorrow we drive from Cleveland to Stamford where we'll be staying in a hotel for a few more nights. Our stuff doesn't arrive until likely June 7... which, incidentally is Noah's first day at the new job.

We're ready to be done driving. It's been a long journey and we are glad to be getting to the end of it.

Tonight we're watching Bones re-runs and a thunderstorm that is rolling past the window.

I'll leave you with a few random pictures of the Midwest.

*Updated: I forgot to mention I ate at Cracker Barrel twice in 2 days... sigh. Love CB!

Cross-Country: Reblogged (Omaha to Chicago)

We're moving back to CA in 1 week. Yay!!! So in preparation for that event, I'm reposting the journey from CA to CT that took place 3+ years ago. Here's hoping that this trip goes a little more smoothly. We certainly learned a few tricks in the process!

May 30, 2010:

Today was a big day! We drove across Iowa



and across the Mississippi river



to Illinois.

Iowa, by the way, has tons of windmills generating large amounts of renewable energy. Way to go Iowa!



Around the 4th hour of the journey today, Bangs woke up from his drugged slumber... this is never a good sign. He began trying to escape his spot in the lap of the front seat passenger (me)... and even meowed a couple times (a sign he's stressed). We pulled off at the next exit, poured litter in the litter box, and shoved him inside. After a shocked second of sniffing, he pooed in the box, looking quite relieved. Sorry I don't have any photos to share with you :)

At the same exit, what should we find but a Culvers!



We are both, sadly, vegetarian, so no butter burgers for us, but we did have yummy krinkle fries and Noah got a chocolate shake (their chocolate custard was coming out in liquid form so we couldn't have any of that). Happy memories of times shared with our Madison, WI, friends :)

After arriving at the La Quinta in Tinley Park, IL, just south of Chicago, we decided to take Tag out for a walk/run about, so we checked on-line and found a wilderness-ish park area nearby. We hopped in the car and drove over.





Our enjoyment of this outdoor adventure lasted all of 20 minutes. About then 2 things happened. First Tag stepped on my shoe and I walked out of it. As I was retrieving my shoe, Noah began flapping me wildly with his hands because I was covered... yes, covered... in ticks. Immediately I thought "O my god, the dog..." Indeed, he and Noah were also covered in ticks.

Now, in normal circumstances, this might not be so horrifying, but... lest we forget, I have a collie... a long haired collie... I have no flea/tick shampoo with me in Illinois, and I have 4 cats back at the hotel that could also pick up ticks from the dog... I panicked mildly.

We nearly ran back to the car, grabbed Tag's brush, flipped him over, and started searching him for ticks. I've never seen so many!

We then proceeded to a PetSmart where we purchased flea and tick applications for the dog and the cats.

5 angry animals (they hate flea/tick medicine), one shower and 2 loads of laundry later, I think we can relax a little now.

Tomorrow, Cleveland!

Cross-Country: Reblogged (Denver to Omaha)

We're moving back to CA in 2(ish) weeks. Yay!!! So in preparation for that event, I'm reposting the journey from CA to CT that took place 3+ years ago. Here's hoping that this trip goes a little more smoothly. We certainly learned a few tricks in the process! (thankfully, the crying kitty from this video has found a new home and will NOT be travelling with us this time)

May 29, 2010

This is a quick video of what our drive was like today.



NNK had to stay in her crate today. She was too noisy and unpredictable... at least in the crate we knew where she was the whole time. :)

Cross-country: Reblogged (Salt Lake to Denver)

We're moving back to CA in 2(ish) weeks. Yay!!! So in preparation for that event, I'm reposting the journey from CA to CT that took place 3+ years ago. Here's hoping that this trip goes a little more smoothly. We certainly learned a few tricks in the process!

We had a better day today. Nobody pooped in their crates. There was no hail... in fact it was sunny and warm the whole day of driving.

We are safe in Denver now, with a free upgrade to a suite... lovin' La Quinta!

Let me tell you a little bit about what it takes to get 4 cats and a dog into and out of a hotel every day. I'll start with packing the car...

Back of Subaruby: Bottom layer, a baby gate and a fold-able soft crate. Next suitcases and cat litters. 2 crates with cats on top of that, then litter boxes, food bowls, and a scratch post crammed in last.

Back seat: The Ark (food bin with supplies for all the pets), lock box, lap top, blankets, dog bed, dog.

Front seat: miscellaneous essentials... passenger, driver...





When we get to the hotel, we unload the crate and gate, the Ark, litter boxes, litter, scratch post, food bowls, crates with cats, and dog bed onto a hotel cart, and bring the dog with us up to the room. While Noah is unloading the cart, I put up the gate in the bathroom door and set up the litter boxes. We release the cats in the bathroom with the litter box to make sure they know where it is... they can explore from there... we use a gate so that Tag doesn't go digging for buried treasure.

While the cats are exploring, one of us goes back for the rest of our stuff (suitcases/laptop, etc.) and the other begins doling out pet food. Once everyone has eaten, Tag gets a walk and we start thinking about dinner.

In the morning, we do the whole thing in reverse, loading the cats last to make the torture as short as possible.

Today we tried something different. NNK spent the first hour or so wailing in the crate. I think she was protesting being put back in the same crate as Mr. Poopy (Bangs).

After a little while of this, we decided to pull over and let the cats loose from their crates. Bangs was still pretty drugged, so we put him in Noah's lap.



NNK needed to be re-drugged after a while before she calmed down... but then she was out like a light.



The kittens spent a while looking around and then crashed out on the back seat with Tag and we had the calmest, quietest day of travel yet.









Tomorrow we're off to the Iowa side of Omaha... another long day but without the mountains. I'll leave you with some pictures of the drive today.